U.S. House GOP leader in Springfield: Farm bill to have reforms

Saturday

Jan 18, 2014 at 9:00 PMJan 18, 2014 at 10:39 PM

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Saturday that he expects a farm bill now being negotiated in Congress to include provisions requiring the able-bodied to seek work or perform public service to receive food stamps.

By Doug FinkeState Capitol Bureau

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Saturday that he expects a farm bill now being negotiated in Congress to include provisions requiring the able-bodied to seek work or perform public service to receive food stamps.

The Virginia Republican said the requirements will be part of the reforms that will be included in the farm bill that’s been held up for months as negotiators try to resolve differences between the House and Senate.

“The bill is going to be a reform bill,” said Cantor, who was in Springfield on Saturday for a fundraiser to benefit U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville. “There’s no question the amount of spending in all areas of federal government needs to be examined. It will be about reform.”

One area of difference between the House and Senate on the farm bill is the amount of cuts to nutrition programs like food stamps. Both chambers agreed to cuts, but the House wanted far deeper cuts than the Senate.

“Nutrition has not been finalized, although we are moving closer to resolution on that,” Cantor said.

The level of cuts will be less than those sought in the House, but higher than the Senate wanted, he said.

Cantor also said he expects the bill to contain some changes on eligibility for food stamps.

“We said if you get benefits, if you are able-bodied, you ought to be willing to work,” Cantor said. “This was one of the tenets of welfare reform in the ’90s. It proved tremendously successful.”

House Republicans have pushed the idea that able-bodied adults who do not have dependent children should apply for a job, attend a job skills program or perform community service to receive benefits.

“I do think the final product will reflect some of that in the end,” Cantor said. “The aim isn’t just to reduce spending. The aim is to enact good policy that can help people come off of dependency.”

Davis, who is on the conference committee that is negotiating the bill, agreed.

“This is an opportunity to teach able-bodied adults some valuable skills that could help them get a job,” Davis said. “That’s what most (food stamp) recipients want.”

Davis said the conferees hope to have the framework of a new farm bill worked out by the end of the month when Congress returns to Washington.

Cantor said Congress can take steps to help low wage earners outside of raising the minimum wage as President Barack Obama wants.

“We all know that if you insist on raising the minimum wage, there are more businesses that are going to have to question whether they can even afford to hire anybody,” Cantor said.

Instead, Cantor said Obamacare could be changed to remove the incentive for businesses to cut worker hours to avoid insurance mandates.

“The problem of Obamacare is that it basically reduces the work week in many small businesses from 40 hours to 29 hours,” Cantor said. “If you were to go and resolve that situation you would in essence put money back in the pockets of wage earners.”

Obamacare should be replaced with something that Republicans believe would give people wider choices in physicians, hospitals and insurance carriers.

“I have from the very beginning said the architecture of (Obamacare) is flawed,” Cantor said. “It doesn’t work. It is not working.”

The House has repeatedly voted to repeal Obamacare, but the bills never advance in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“We would like to see some willingness from the Senate to step up and see if we can work together to help people who are being harmed by Obamacare,” Cantor said. “Obamacare has gone wildly the wrong way.”

Cantor said he thinks Republicans have a “great shot at both strengthening our majority in the House and winning the Senate” during this year’s elections.

“I think the public is alarmed at the impact of the policies of this administration, Obamacare being front and center because if affects people in a personal way,” Cantor said. “The economy is still so lackluster. I think many people are doubting whether the promise of this country is still alive.”